“From Jaim: Have human beings any demonstrable purpose other than to reproduce themselves?

Chris Langan:Yes. We are internal sensor-controllers in a “metacybernetic” system called reality. As such, we help reality self-configure by trying to maximize various levels of utility up to that of “teleology”. Teleology, a global principle of self-actualization ultimately associated with the design concept, is merely a logical predicate defined to account for that level of the structure of reality that relates the configuration of reality to other conceivable configurations. With respect to any temporal, evolving system, this is a necessary level of structure that can no more be scientifically dismissed than an unfashionable subset of a set can be mathematically dismissed from its powerset. In effect, it constitutes the “design phase” of reality itself.”